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CBS: Rawhide, Taxi, Petticoat Junction, and The Beverly Hillbillies Prepped for Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

MatthewA

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If they weren't designed to be seen in HD, why were they shot in 35mm to begin with? And if the production values are so poor you can see what's fake in SD, why even bother with anything with a higher resolution than VHS? And if VHS is too high a resolution to hide all the sins of corner-cutting, why even bother with that? Nobody had cable when these shows were new anyway, so let's go back to bunny ears. How far back do you want to go? Do you still want color? Or sound? :D

Dynasty aside, nobody watched any of these shows for the production values. They were dirt cheap compared to movies and we all knew it just as much then as we do now. Most sitcoms of that era are staged like theater anyway.
 

Ron1973

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MatthewA said:
If they weren't designed to be seen in HD, why were they shot in 35mm to begin with? And if the production values are so poor you can see what's fake in SD, why even bother with anything with a higher resolution than VHS? And if VHS is too high a resolution to hide all the sins of corner-cutting, why even bother with that? Nobody had cable when these shows were new anyway, so let's go back to bunny ears. How far back do you want to go? Do you still want color? Or sound? :D

Dynasty aside, nobody watched any of these shows for the production values. They were dirt cheap compared to movies and we all knew it just as much then as we do now. Most sitcoms of that era are staged like theater anyway.
I'm not advocating keeping them SD. HD is quite stunning but anything is stunning compared to the washed out 16mm films I grew up seeing on TV. I'm just venturing the thought that will blu be all that much better than the DVD transfers.
 

Rob_Ray

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MatthewA said:
If they weren't designed to be seen in HD, why were they shot in 35mm to begin with? And if the production values are so poor you can see what's fake in SD, why even bother with anything with a higher resolution than VHS? And if VHS is too high a resolution to hide all the sins of corner-cutting, why even bother with that? Nobody had cable when these shows were new anyway, so let's go back to bunny ears. How far back do you want to go? Do you still want color? Or sound? :D

Dynasty aside, nobody watched any of these shows for the production values. They were dirt cheap compared to movies and we all knew it just as much then as we do now. Most sitcoms of that era are staged like theater anyway.
Vintage shows were shot on 35mm because of its outstanding quality, even on a small screen. Even on my 12" black and white, I could tell the difference between something shown from a 16mm source and the high-quality 35mm source used by the networks.

However, these shows were sometimes not designed to be seen in HiDef on the giant screens we have today. Take Bewitched, for example. Today's screens, with no overscan, really emphasize the fact that those sets have no ceiling. Sure, we could tell that on our small screens too. But the filmmakers knew that with small screens, lower resolution and overscan, they could get away with stuff like that and audiences would overlook it. Now, what was noticeable before, becomes glaringly obvious.

BluRay will make these shows look incredible, but at the same time, they might not do the production design any favors. That, coupled with the $100+ price tag per season, makes acquiring them on bluray less of a priority for me. I want The Beverly Hillbillies out in any format I can get, but I can live with DVD and I certainly have no plans to repurchase seasons 2-4. Even season one would depend on the price.
 

MatthewA

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For those who already bought these sets, I can understand the frustration of having to rebuy them for incremental improvements. But I held out on a lot of these shows because of the cuts and other reasons, like there being other shows I wanted more.

These upgrades should be done, but not if they're going to commit the same sins in HD that they committed in SD.
moviebuff75 said:
What about "The Brady Bunch"???? They own this show too and this year is the 45th Anniversary.
Love it or hate it, this is actually a show that could benefit from an HD upgrade because it would correct a problem with the DVDs: the fact that the episodes were put together from multiple sources to make them uncut.
 

Malcolm R

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I agree with those who've stated that the blu-ray releases need to begin with unreleased seasons. I'm happy to pick up additional seasons on blu (then buy re-releases on blu of earlier seasons), but I will not buy any blu re-releases of already released seasons until the complete series is available.

I love Petticoat Junction, but I'm not interested in Season 1 on blu until the remaining seasons not released on DVD are available in some format (either DVD or blu).
 

Jack P

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Give me a FIXED "Odd Couple" on Blu-Ray (clear "Cocktails For Two" at all costs!) and I'd be most ecstatic. It still disappoints me a little that what was done on that series didn't elicit the same kind of backlash we saw with "The Fugitive" since so much episode content was butchered.
 

FanCollector

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Yes, I really hope they consider The Odd Couple. I am skeptical that all the shows listed will make it as far as blu-ray releases, but given the large number of titles mentioned, I am disappointed that The Odd Couple didn't even make this preliminary list. Unlike some of the others, as Jack suggests above, there is really a lot of room for improvement in the releases of The Odd Couple.
 

albert_m2

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I never picked up Taxi, so I wouldn't mind getting it, but not for a fortune. I would be content with the DVDs if they were cheap enough and didn't come in those outdated space taking dvd sets.
 

bluelaughaminute

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Actually , only one of these shows is being prepared for Bluray release.

The shows are being prepared to be Bluray READY , that is they are going to create HD masters for them so that a Bluray release is possible if and when they decide but like much HD content ( Mission Impossible already mentioned above) this is about future proofing their libraries and most of it will be aired in HD on broadcast tv first.
Yes , Lucy , Honeymooners and and Andy Griffith are coming out but of the others only Twin Peaks is up for Bluray - none of the others are .....yet.
 

Steve...O

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Based on the article at TVoDVD, whoever wrote the blurb at blu-ray.com did a sloppy job at recapping the Home Media Magazine article. There's a huge difference between blu ray "ready" and prepping actual releases which is what the other site was suggesting.

Based on that definition, much of CBS/P's properties are already BD ready by virtue of the transfers that have already been done to HD as per their syndication bible website.
 

Konstantinos

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John Hermes said:
Wow.
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=13843

"Next month, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Media Home Distribution will bring to Blu-ray three classic TV shows: The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy: Ultimate Season 1 and The Andy Griffith Show: Season 1. All three will be available for purchase on May 6th.
While discussing with Home Media Magazine the extensive restoration work that was needed to prepare these classic shows for Blu-ray release, Ryan Adams, director of multimedia services for CBS Television Distribution, also confirmed that CBS is preparing Blu-ray releases of Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Bonanza, The Wild Wild West, Petticoat Junction, Dynasty, The Beverly Hillbillies, Taxi, and Twin Peaks (with director David Lynch involved with the restoration). According to Mr. Adams, CBS is also more than halfway through a three-year spruce-up of Star Trek: The Next Generation."
Dynasty???
OMG! I grew up with this series, and I wanted to purchase the DVDs.
I hoped for a Bluray, but I thought that this is something that would never appear!!
Was it shot on film?
 

Hasslein

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Steve...O said:
No offense to TAXI fans, but is there really a demand for that in BD? Scott's query about Brady Bunch is spot on - I would think that property has higher demand (and I say that as a non-fan of the show).
Taxi was the only show on the list I was excited about, and would purchase, if, as stated above, the shows weren't edited because of music clearances.
 

bluray111

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Steve...O said:
Based on the article at TVoDVD, whoever wrote the blurb at blu-ray.com did a sloppy job at recapping the Home Media Magazine article. There's a huge difference between blu ray "ready" and prepping actual releases which is what the other site was suggesting.

Based on that definition, much of CBS/P's properties are already BD ready by virtue of the transfers that have already been done to HD as per their syndication bible website.
WRONG, blu-ray quoted directly the article, over night those new tv shows they are prepping for blu-ray was removed from the article online because marketing got their panties in a bunch of how it was announced before they wanted it announced. everyome should take what tvshowsondvd says with a HUGE grain of salt
 

LeoA

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"[color=rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, 'SunSans-Regular';font-size:12px;]We're very pleased to pass on that more DVDs of these shows [Bonanza & Gunsmoke] ARE indeed on the way, and we should see something before the end of 2014."[/color]

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bonanza-DVDs-Planned/19751

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Gunsmoke-DVDs-Planned/19750
Does this Bonanza/Gunsmoke news today at TVShowsonDVD end those rumors from a few weeks ago of these two stalling out? As best as I can tell, there's still unreleased remastered work for Bonanza yet to be released on DVD so it's not necessarily reassuring news that they're going to do further work past what they've already prepared for release.

But it doesn't look like season 10 of Gunsmoke has been remastered to HD judging by their syndication bible and that's next up on DVD.

Brian McP said:
What good would a bluray restoration be for these shows?
I think Petticoat Junction in HD would look excellent. The only thing I ever noticed that looked cheap to any degree was Steve's crop duster and the occasional outdoor scene like when Kate is trapped in the cave.

If I'm watching it on a big HDTV, I'd just as assume what I'm watching be mastered in HD if possible instead of letting an upscaler adapt a 480p picture to my tv's native resolution. Of course there's things I'm satisfied with my DVD's enough that I won't upgrade, but if it's something I love, I'll upgrade it for a slight quality increase alone when the price is right even if the DVD release was just fine.

If CBS somehow actually ever reads this, please fix the openings on season 2 of Petticoat Junction. They're incorrectly cut as it fades to black. The audio actually continues for a moment past that fade as seen in the season 1 release where it was done correctly.
 

Steve...O

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bluray111 said:
WRONG, blu-ray quoted directly the article, over night those new tv shows they are prepping for blu-ray was removed from the article online because marketing got their panties in a bunch of how it was announced before they wanted it announced. everyome should take what tvshowsondvd says with a HUGE grain of salt
Gord/Dave's site included a scan of the print version of the article and it clearly says ""The CBS team is already working on Blu-ray ready versions of..."

That's pretty clear to me - the source article doesn't say what the blu-ray.com article says "Ryan Adams, director of multimedia services for CBS Television Distribution, also confirmed that CBS is preparing Blu-ray releases..."

Big difference between "Blu Ray ready" and "Blu ray releases" which is what Gord/Dave were saying in their article. I'm not saying that blu-ray.com was malicious or deliberately deceptive; honestly I can see how someone not reading carefully could interpret the original article as saying releases were coming but this is something best confirmed with the studio before posting it as fact.
 

bluray111

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Steve...O said:
Gord/Dave's site included a scan of the print version of the article and it clearly says ""The CBS team is already working on Blu-ray ready versions of..."

That's pretty clear to me - the source article doesn't say what the blu-ray.com article says "Ryan Adams, director of multimedia services for CBS Television Distribution, also confirmed that CBS is preparing Blu-ray releases..."

Big difference between "Blu Ray ready" and "Blu ray releases" which is what Gord/Dave were saying in their article. I'm not saying that blu-ray.com was malicious or deliberately deceptive; honestly I can see how someone not reading carefully could interpret the original article as saying releases were coming but this is something best confirmed with the studio before posting it as fact.
IF you would have read the online article yesterday (Monday) it said blu-ray releases - and quoted an exec who specifically said beverly hillbillies was coming to blu-ray - home media magazine changed the article since then
 

Carabimero

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It made no sense to me when I read Hillbillies was coming to Blu-Ray...if that successful, then why aren't the other seasons of the show released in SD? If the sets were selling, one would think we would have seen the rest of the seasons by now.
 

benbess

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MatthewA said:
If they weren't designed to be seen in HD, why were they shot in 35mm to begin with? And if the production values are so poor you can see what's fake in SD, why even bother with anything with a higher resolution than VHS? And if VHS is too high a resolution to hide all the sins of corner-cutting, why even bother with that? Nobody had cable when these shows were new anyway, so let's go back to bunny ears. How far back do you want to go? Do you still want color? Or sound? :D

Dynasty aside, nobody watched any of these shows for the production values. They were dirt cheap compared to movies and we all knew it just as much then as we do now. Most sitcoms of that era are staged like theater anyway.
Good point! And I'll just add this....

The success of I Love Lucy, one of the first shows shot on 35mm, was one of the reasons it became a standard for most TV productions until recently. From wikipedia's article on I Love Lucy:

"...At the time, most television shows were produced from New York with live broadcasts of the show airing for eastern and Midwest audiences. West coast viewers were able to view live programs only through low-quality kinescopes, which derived their images by using a 35 mm or 16 mm film camera to record the show off a closed-circuit television monitor. As videotape had not yet been developed, (and would not be until the mid-fifties), kinescopes were the only practical, and affordable, means to allow a live show to reach television markets on the west coast. Complicating matters was that kinescopes were not available for immediate re-broadcast as in 1951 no coast-to-coast cable system was yet in service. Shows had to be sent to Hollywood, which delayed their airings for west coast audiences by nearly a week. The process operated in the reverse for the few programs that originated live in Hollywood, such as The Ed Wynn Show, thus making blurry kinescopes of these shows the only available print for eastern audiences. Most sponsors, including Philip Morris, found this to be undesirable as most of the television audience lived east of the Mississippi at the time. Owing to the impending birth of their first child, both Lucy and Desi insisted on staying in Hollywoodand producing the show on film, something a few Hollywood-based series had begun doing. Both CBS and Philip Morris initially balked at the idea, because of the higher cost that filming the show would incur, yet acquiesced only after the pair offered to take a one-thousand-dollar a week pay cut in order to cover the additional expense. In exchange, Lucy and Desi demanded, and were given, 80% ownership in the I Love Lucy films (the other 20% went to producer Jess Oppenheimer who then gave 5% to writer Madelyn Pugh and 5% to writer Bob Carroll, Jr.). Putting the show on film, however, would require that Lucy and Desi become responsible for producing the series themselves. Union agreements at the time stipulated that any production filmed in a studio use film studio employees. CBS staff were television and radio employees and thus fell under different union agreements. Thus, Arnaz reorganized the company he created to manage his orchestra bookings and used it as the corporation that would produce the I Love Lucy shows. Named after their ranch inChatsworth, California, the company was named Desilu....

....Lucy and Desi enlisted the services of Karl Freund, an Academy Award-winning cinematographer of such films as Metropolis (1927), Dracula (1931), and The Good Earth (1937), as well as director of The Mummy (1932), to be the series cinematographer. Although at first Freund did not want anything to do with television, it was the personal plea of both Lucy and Desi that convinced Freund to take the job. Freund was instrumental in developing a way to uniformly light the set so that each of the three cameras would pick up the same quality of image....

....The process resulted in a much sharper quality of show in contrast to blurry kinescopes. This led to an unexpected benefit for Desilu during the series's second season when it was discovered that Lucy was pregnant. Not being able to fulfill the show's 39-episode commitment, both Desi and Jess Oppenheimer decided to rebroadcast popular episodes of the series's first season to help give Lucy the necessary rest she needed after she gave birth, effectively allowing fewer episodes to be filmed that season. Unexpectedly the rebroadcasts proved to be ratings winners, effectively giving birth to the rerun, which would later lead to the profitable development of the rerun syndication market."
 

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